Of cisterns



INo. 14,273.

.PATENTED FEB. 19, 1856.

W. D.' BA'RTLETT. WELL.

Hwy!A UNITED STATES ATENT @FFICE WILLIAM D. BARTLETT, OF AMESBURY,MASSACHUSETTS.

CONSTRUCTION 0F CISTERNS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 14,273, dated February 19, 1856.

To aZZ whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, WILLIAM D. BART- LETT, of Amesbury, in the county ofEssex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulApparatus or Cistern for Procuring Water from the Earth; and I do herebydeclare that the same is described and represented in the followingspecifications and drawings.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I willproceed to describe its construction and use referring to the drawing.

Figure 1, is a sectional elevation of my apparatus complete, with a pumpattached for raising the water.

The nature of my invention consists in making a cistern or reservoir ofwood, masonry or some other materials in the earth, with an opening oropenings to admit the water of the particular stratum in which it islocated; with the hole or aperture in the earth through which it was putin filled Aabove it, so that the water in the several strata above theapertures in the cistern, will iiow on, or have an opportunity to flowon, in the same strata that it did before the cistern was put in, sothat the cistern will be filled with the water of the stratum in whichit is placed, and the water oftth'at stratum only.

If the stratum in which the bottom of the box is placed consists of aformation that would be likely to be carried into the cistern by thewater, a filter of gravel, charcoal or -some other substance, may befound under and around the bottom of the cistern to prevent it; and inorder that the vextraneous matter carried into the cistern by the water,may be deposited over the apertures in the bottom, the sides of theapertures may be made to incline by making such apertures Vlargest atthe top, or by making the interior of the bottom conical or pyramidalfor that purpose. The water accumulating in such cistern may be drawnfrom it by syphon,

pump or some other means, an air pipe being provided to supply air tothe cistern, so as to permit the water to be drawn with facility.

In the accompanying drawing A, is a cistern placed in theearthconsisting of a stout box with top and sides which I prefer to makeof hemlock plank, because it does not impart much if any disagreeabletaste to the water; but it may be made of iron or masonry or such othermaterial as may be preferred. About one third of the lower part of thisbox is separated from the upper part by the partition D, provided withtwo openings E, E, to let the water from the lower into the upper part.The box I, may be made in the form of a pyramid with a base three ormore inches smaller than the interior of the box A, and fastened in themiddle of the partition D, so as to leave a space Z, Z, between the baseof the pyramid and the sides of the box A, for the water to pass up intothe box A. rIhe box I, instead of being pyramidal may be made longenough to reach across the box A, with inclined sides, so as to shed anysand or ex-kk traneous matter carried through the opening Z, Z, when thewater becomes still, so as to prevent the water from bringing in more ofthe same or other materials when a small deposit of a few inches indepth has been formed over the openings Z, Z. The width of the loweredges of the box A, may be increased by fastening some cleats Gr, G, onthe outside as represented in the drawing.

The partition D prevents the water below it from being disturbed, so asto agitate the deposit in the opening Z, by pumping the water away fromabove the partition.

To place this box in the earth a hole should be dug a few inches largerthan the base of the box, down to, or into the stratum of earth fromwhich the water is to be obtained; and so deep in such stratum, that thewater will rise to the top of the box, and if the stratum which suppliesthe Water is not gravel, or consists of, or containsplace the bottom ofthe box; and filled fromV eight to sixteen inches deep with gravel, orif gravel cannot be readily obtained, charcoal will answer a goodpurpose, if the pieces placed under the openings into the box, are solarge as not to be fioated up into the box through the opening Z, or alattice of some kind may be placed under the opening to prevent it frombeing floated in. The bottom of the hole having been properly prepared,the box may be lowered and placed in it, and the space around the boxfilled up about one foot in depth with gravel or charcoal so as tofilter any matter which may descend around the sides of the box,

The end of the pipe B, through which the matter is to be drawn shouldnow be inserted, and secured in the top of the box, so that the lowerend of the pipe will be about two inches above the partition D, and thepipe P, which is to ventilate the cistern should also be inserted justthrough the top of the box, and secured properly to it. The hole may nowbe lled with the earth which was taken from it over the box and aroundthe pipes. If the -hole was made through several st-rata of differentkinds, it may be desirable to return the materials of each stratum toits original position as near as may be, so that the water of each ofthe several strata may flow or filter forward in the same direction andin the same stratum orstrata that it did before and not descend to thebox or cistern below.

Whenever there is any noxious water Vin any of the strata above the boxthe hole a short distance above the box should be filled and packed withclay or some substance which will prevent the noxious water fromdescending to the box, and mixing with the water which enters it, so asto render it impure.

It will be apparent from the above description that one or both sides ofthe openings through which the Water enters the cistern may be madeinclined for the purpose of shedding any substance carried in by thewater into the opening through which the water enters when the waterceases to flow in. I contemplate that these openings may have a seriesof inclined planes upon one side or around them for the purpose abovementioned Also that the cistern may be made round, or of such othershape as may be preferred.

Some of the' advantages of my cistern' over wells as ordinarilyconstructed may be enumerated as follows, to wit: They frequently wantclearing out, while it is not probable that my improved cistern willever require cleaning. In common wells there is generally nothing toprevent the water from entering at the surface; besides the water in thewell may be a mixture of the water from each` of the different stratafrom. the top to the bottom, some of which may be very objectionable,while the water in my cistern is Vthe water of the stratum in which thecistern is placed, and of that strat-um only; as all the water in thestrata above is compelled to flow orfilter forward where it did eforethe cistern was put in below it; for it is well known that the water ofsome wells is good in a dry time, when they receive water from the lowerstratum only. But after a rain the water from some'of the strata higherup descends and mixes with the good water and spoils the whole. In suchcases my cistern would furnish good water uniformly regardless ofdrought or plenty. Most wells are open to the reception of dust, leaves,animals and insects, none of which can get into my cistern. Some wellsnear tide 'water are so affected by the tides as to render themcomparatively or quite useless; but if my cistern is put in below thelevel of the water at low tide it will not be aected by the tide waterbut will furnish water of a uniform quality continually. The water frommy cistern will generally be cooler in warm weather than from open wellsvor wells stoned to within a short distance ofthe surface.

I believe I have described the construction of my apparatus or cisternfor obtaining water from the earth so as to enable any person skilled inthe art to make and use it. I will now state what I desire to secure byIetters Patent, to wit,

I claim- A cistern constructed substantially as de4 scribed or in anyequivalent manner for the purposes set forth.

IVM. D. BARTLETT.

Witnesses:

THOMAS I. CLARK, I. NAYsoN.

